DEC 03 (SAN DIEGO) - This morning, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) San Diego Field Division’s Narcotics Task Force (NTF) along with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and Health Advocates Rejecting Marijuana, (HARM) announce the total amount of illegal marijuana plants seized in San Diego County in 2012.

During calendar year 2012, NTF and our law enforcement partners seized over 97,399 marijuana plants from 100 separate grow locations – 40 outdoor sites and 60 indoor locations. At these locations, the investigators seized trafficker assets valued at approximately $913,307. There were 105 subjects arrested in connection with these operations. Of additional significance is the fact that 24,016 were removed from our public lands. That includes both U.S. Forest Service lands and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. DEA/NTF will continue to intensify their efforts in this area and work with our National Guard, BLM, and US Forest Service partners and to halt the extensive environmental damage that these grows cause and to ensure that our public lands remain safe.

“DEA/NTF has a dedicated team, led by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, whose purpose is solely to conduct marijuana investigations in San Diego County,” says DEA San Diego Acting Special Agent in Charge William R. Sherman. “Our main focus is to arrest and prosecute the drug trafficking organizations responsible for damaging lands and putting our citizens at risk.”

For further information about marijuana cultivation, please refer to www.dea.gov.